Dexter town officials have been working to retain and attract businesses to the community. One economic development tool available to Maine communities is tax increment financing (TIF) and during a Nov. 14 council meeting Town Manager Trampas King discussed what the community may be able to do.

State regulators have given preliminary support to a proposed merger of Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft with Northern Light Health, the statewide health care system that includes Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Gov. Janet Mills has appointed four new commissioners to Volunteer Maine, the state service commission, including Dexter resident Mathison Deering. A student at Thomas College in Waterville, Deering joins the Volunteer Maine commission to represent an individual age 16 to 25 who is a participant in a service program for youth.

Dexter residents went to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to vote on races for the town council, SAD 46 school board, HAD 4 board of directors and seats on the Dexter Utility District board of trustees.

Anyone who suspects someone they know may be a victim of elder abuse or would like to know more about the topic and how to help is invited to a free elder abuse awareness and response workshop from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, Nov. 15 at The Commons at Central Hall, 152 East Main Street.

The fall hours for the Abbott Museum, 12 Church Street, are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday -- closed Sundays, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. The museum offers seven exhibit rooms on local history in areas of business, industry, recreation and veterans.

With the state’s firearms hunting season for deer looming, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s deer specialist says he expects plenty of hunters to fill their tags this year after a banner year in 2018.

Crime in Maine dropped for the seventh consecutive year in 2018, according to data from the Maine Department of Public Safety released Wednesday, but there were more assaults and homicides compared with 2017.

More than 300,000 Maine homeowners can expect a $100 check early next year under a new state law. The households that can expect the payment qualified for the homestead exemption in 2019. The homestead exemption reduces a home’s taxable value by $20,000, so a taxpayer pays property taxes on only $130,000 in value for a $150,000 home. Homeowners can only claim the homestead exemption on their primary residence.

The Piscataquis Observer’s Stuart Hedstrom picked up top honors in the food story/feature writing category among the state’s smaller weekly publications from the Maine Press Association in the 2019 MPA Better Newspaper Contest on October 19 during the organization's annual awards banquet at the South Portland DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.

Ahead of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day this Saturday, October 26, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine announced the locations of the Maine collection sites, the full list is at https://takebackday.dea.gov/. Area sites include the Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Greenville and Milo police departments and Piscataquis County sheriff’s office.

The Dover-Foxcroft Window Dressers workshop, with The Commons Energy Collaborative, completed its annual weeklong build on Saturday, October 19 at the Dexter Town Hall, constructing 300 insulating window inserts for 45 customers and with the help of over 45 volunteers.

The man who was involved in a plane crash at Dexter Regional Airport on Wednesday died at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, according to hospital spokesman Bob Potts.

The Commons at Central Hall is growing with programs and activities to serve the Piscataquis area. In order to fulfill the mission statement to “provide programs that create and preserve memories, build community, and enhance personal vitality by including people of all ages” successfully, a new program manager, Jeremy Loguercio, and a new volunteer coordinator, Jessica Brasier, were hired in September.

Recently the White House named Alyson Lee Saunders, a science teacher at Dexter Regional High School, a recipient of a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). PAEMST are the nation’s highest honors for teachers of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and/or computer science teaching.

A small World War I-era replica plane crashed at the Dexter Municipal Airport late Wednesday morning after a breeze lifted the taxiing plane into the air with the pilot strapped inside.

The Travis Mills Foundation has been providing support and respite to combat-wounded veterans and their families since 2013. Next month Bangor Savings Bank -- which has branches in Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft and Greenville -- will put the foundation on a literal fast track for growth when it gifts its primary Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car sponsorship to the nonprofit for the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Plans are well underway for the Piscataquis County Democrats annual fall fundraising dinner. The True Blue North Fundraiser takes place at the East Sangerville Grange on Saturday, October 19 with a social hour beginning at 5 p.m.